Concretize

concretize \(ˌ)kän-ˈkrēt-tīz\ transitive verb: to make concrete, specific or definite {tried to concretize his ideas}

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin concretus, from past participle of concrescere thicken, condense

Now that is one useful word.

Chamfer

chamfer \ˈcham(p)-fər\ noun: a beveled edge
transitive verb: 1. to cut a furrow in (as a column), 2. to make a chamfer on

Etymology: back-formation from chamfering, alteration of Middle French chanfreint, from past participle of chanfraindre to bevel, from chant edge (from Latin canthus iron tire) + fraindre to break, from Latin frangere

Thirty white horses on a red hill; first they champ, then they stamp, then they stand still. (But they never chamfer.)

Lilliputian

Lilliputian \ˌli-lə-ˈpyü-shən\ adjective: 1. small, miniature {a Lilliputian camera}, 2. petty

Etymology: Lilliput, imaginary land of small people in Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift

As miniature is to Lilliputian, so majuscule is to Brobdingnagian.

Brobdingnagian

Brobdingnagian \ˌbräb-diŋ-ˈna-gē-ən\ adjective: marked by tremendous size

Etymology: Brobdingnag, imaginary land of giants in Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift

Most know Swift’s other contribution to the lexicon of size.

Cantankerous

cantankerous \kan-ˈtaŋ-k(ə-)rəs,\ adjective: difficult or irritating to deal with {a cantankerous mule}

Etymology: perhaps irregular from obsolete contack contention

What example could Merriam-Webster use but a mule?

Stertor

stertor \ˈstər-tər\ noun: the act or fact of producing a snoring sound; snoring

Etymology: Latin stertere to snore

Boring, coring, flooring, goring, mooring, pouring, roaring, snoring, touring, whoring. Now I feel like a two-cent rhyming dictionary, but it was fun while it lasted.

Stertorous

stertorous \ˈstər-tə-rəs\ adjective: characterized by a harsh snoring or gasping sound

Etymology: Latin word stertere to snore

Would you use this word to describe your car? Your pet? Your repressed thoughts?

Circumvolution

circumvolution \sər-ˌkəm-və-ˈlü-shən, ˌsər-kəm-vō-ˈlü-shən\ noun: an act or instance of turning around an axis

Etymology: Middle English circumvolucioun, ultimately from Latin circum- + volvere to roll

Circumvolution sounds like a circumlocution; can’t we just say rotation?

Terraqueous

terraqueous \te-ˈrā-kwē-əs, tə-, -ˈra-\ adjective: consisting of land and water

Etymology: Latin terra land + English aqueous

Is it land? Is it water? It’s terraqua!

Sobriquet

sobriquet \ˈsō-bri-ˌkā, -ˌket\ noun: a descriptive name or epithet; nickname

Etymology: French

I have nothing against loan words, but why does the English language need sobriquet? What does it do that nickname or epithet doesn’t?

Panacea

panacea \ˌpa-nə-ˈsē-ə\ noun: a remedy for all ills or difficulties; cure-all

Etymology: Latin, from Greek panakeia, from panakēs all-healing, from pan- all + akos remedy

This word always makes me think of pancakes.

Persiflage

persiflage \ˈpər-si-ˌfläzh, ˈper-\ noun: frivolous bantering talk; light raillery

Etymology: French, from persifler to banter, from per- thoroughly + siffler to whistle, hiss, boo, ultimately from Latin sibilare to hiss, whistle (of imitative origin)

Compare persiflage to badinage.

Sprezzatura

sprezzatura \sprāt-tsä-ˈtü-rä\ noun: 1. studied nonchalance, 2. perfect conduct or performance of something (as an artistic endeavor) without apparent effort

Etymology: Italian

Apparantly the early 19th-century British dandy would spend excessive time before his mirror tying his cravat in such a manner as to appear hastily thrown on, albeit perfectly so. A contemporary version of sprezzatura as it pertains to fashioin or vanity is the willful cultivation of “bedhead” by means other than having slept in a bed.

Plexure

plexure \ˈplek-shər\ noun: 1. the act or process of weaving together; interweaving, 2. that which is woven together

Etymology: New Latin, from Latin plectere to braid

The bend of the weave is the flexure of the plexure.

Unctuous

unctuous \ˈəŋ(k)-chə-wəs, -chəs, -shwəs\ adjective: 1 a. fatty, oily, b. smooth and greasy in texture or appearance, 2. plastic {fine unctuous clay}, 3 a. full of unction, b. revealing or marked by a smug, ingratiating and false earnestness or spirituality

Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French unctueus, from Medieval Latin unctuosus, from Latin unctus act of anointing, from unguere to anoint

Sklonklish has been around for over ten months, and unctuous is only now making an appearance. Unbelievable.

Penumbra

penumbra \pə-ˈnəm-brə\ noun: 1 a. a space of partial illumination (as in an eclipse) between the perfect shadow on all sides and the full light, b. a shaded region surrounding the dark central portion of a sunspot,
 2. a surrounding or adjoining region in which something exists in a lesser degree; fringe,
 3. a body of rights held to be guaranteed by implication in a civil constitution, 
4. something that covers, surrounds or obscures; shroud {a penumbra of secrecy} {a penumbra of somber dignity has descended over his reputation — James Atlas}

Etymology: New Latin, from Latin paene almost + umbra shadow

Lots of good definitions here, people. Let’s start using them!

Poxy

poxy or poxie \ˈpäks-sē \ noun: 1. suffering from pox, 2. sickening, unsatisfactory, generally bad

Etymology: alteration of pocks, plural of pock, from Middle English pokke, from Old English pocc pustule

Poxy is begging to be used as a widepread term of casual disparagement.

Intussusception

intussusception \ˌin-tə-sə-ˈsep-shən\ noun: a drawing in of something from without, as 1. invagination (especially the slipping of a length of intestine into an adjacent portion usually producing obstruction), 2. the assimilation of new material and its dispersal among preexistent matter

Etymology: Latin intus within + susception-, susceptio action of undertaking, from suscipere to take up

These two definitions are so different from one another that you and your conversational partners had better be on the same page when using intussusception.

Volvulus

volvulus \ˈväl-vyə-ləs\ noun: a twisting of the intestine upon itself that causes obstruction

Etymology: New Latin, from Latin volvere

Sounds like the name of a car: the Volvo Volvulus.

Deracinate

deracinate \(ˌ)dē-ˈra-sə-ˌnāt\ transitive verb: 1. uproot, 
2. to remove or separate from a native environment or culture, especially to remove the racial or ethnic characteristics or influences from

Etymology: Middle French desraciner, from des- de- + racine root, from Late Latin radicina, from Latin radic-, radix

One might think that deracinate and race have similar etymologies, especially considering definition 2 and the face that rac- is embedded in the word deracinate, but according to Merriam-Webster and MyEtymology, the two words appear to be historically distinct.